


Un(der)cover this feelings

by BeardedBarbet



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-30
Updated: 2016-10-30
Packaged: 2018-08-27 21:40:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8417878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeardedBarbet/pseuds/BeardedBarbet
Summary: That's the reason she jumped to the opportunity when J'onn informed her about the undercover mission, he had meant for her to select a few agents who she thought where a good fit for the operation, but this was just the kind of thing she had been expecting, she longed to prove herself and the rest of the DEO that she hasn't kept directorship of the base out of pity, no, she wants them to know it's because she's Lucy Lane, and she rocks.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheRagingThespian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRagingThespian/gifts).



> Ok, so, this one is dedicated to my fave superlane writer (wink wink). You liking that silly thing I sent over tumblr meant the world and pushed me to write this, thank you, and I'm sorry because this is probably awful. I havent written anything of substance in eight years, so, to those who read this, bring the Constructive Criticism on.
> 
> DCU owns Superlane and Superlane owns me. Enjoy!

                Lucy Lane didn't like nor accept hand-me-downs.  Every single thing she had, no matter how little or how insignificant it may seem, she earned. 

Hard work was her tool, her everything, it helped through the university and it helped in the military. Of course people would think she only made it that far because of her father, _if anything_ Lucy thinks _it was in spite of him_. The crushing pressure and fear of not living up to the Lane name was hard to bear, but she pushed through. Her job at Catco. had nothing to do with James (of course not, Cat Grant would be damned before letting anyone undeserving on her side) or with her being a Lane (quite the contrary, being a Lane should have been a hindrance).

But then, one rescue mission later she was being handed the directorship of the DEO, however provisional it may be. She accepted, of course, because the circumstances called for it, and along the way she was surprised with the sudden knowledge that she loved this job.

Now Kara saved the day once more, and it could have been the last one. Lucy doesn't like to think about it, every time she did, very vivid images of Kara's lifeless body assaulted her brain, active imagination fueled by the unforgettable memory of Kara being dragged into the DEO in a very, very bad shape, after Alex had pushed her body back to the atmosphere  and subsequent crash.

National City was safe and back to normal, as normal as it gets in a city where some  aliens liked to play hide and seek in their easy days and whack-a-mole in the bad ones, and another refugees fell from the sky, she guesses.

Like she said, she loves her job, and that's why she felt restless. She had discovered her ignorance in all things aliens a while ago when she was unable to recall more than five alien species that were brought in the last month. She had studied, and learned a lot, but theoretical knowledge was one thing, what she craved was the experience that would make her a good director, but that job description entailed more paperwork than field work these days.

That's the reason she jumped to the opportunity when J'onn informed her about the undercover mission, he had meant for her to select a few agents who she thought where a good fit for the operation, but this was just the kind of thing she had been expecting, she longed to prove herself and the rest of the DEO that she hasn't kept directorship of the base out of pity, no, she wants them to know it's because she's Lucy Lane, and she rocks.

_..._

                 " _What?_ _you are a great director!," Kara says when she tells her of her insecurities, Lucy stifles a chuckle_

_"You say that just because I let you get away with eating whatever you want from the break room's fridge without scolding you," Kara reddens and starts gaping like a fish_

_"I don-... what are y- .. tha-..."she stammers adorably "you knew?" she manages in the end and now Lucy really does laugh._

_"Kara, dear, nobody but you is capable of eating absolutely everything in that fridge without exploding first." the pet name had been part of the joke but the  softness in which escapes Lucy's lips catches her unguarded. Kara, none the wiser, is still embarrassed at being so obviously caught._

_..._

That's how she finds herself surrounded by a very  diverse multitude of aliens. The mission was to gather Intel to dismantle a big alien trafficking cartel. The leader was a scary looking thanagarian and she had to get as close to him as possibly, a rather difficult task as he surrounded himself with  a very select group of aliens (at first she thought they were picked for the loyalty but she quickly dismissed the idea, she would have to make the group somehow)

It takes her a few days to get rid of her sense of amazement, a year ago she never would have guessed how many aliens lived on earth (of course she had known that Superman and the enemy of the week couldn't be the only ones, but still, being faced with the reality was quite different), and how different they were, some she recognized (psions, daemonites, qwardians to name a few) and some that weren't registered in the DEO database.

The first few days she doesn't get to work with the hostages, some of her now crew mates had some concerns about her loyalty, and she thought that was hard, building trust, but she was wrong. She was tasked to move some hostages to a different cell, the frightened look the little lizard-like boy (she thinks) had given her will follow her to her grave, of that she's sure. At night she closes her eyes and she that stare, scared, lonely, desolated. When she sleeps at night that same look haunts her dreams, but instead of spikes in the head she sees blonde hair, instead of yellow eyes she sees sky blue. When she wakes up its with a million questions that only Kara can answer.

...

_They are watching Mulan for what it feels like the hundredth time ("It's a classic!" Kara always says when Lucy questions her choice, she rolls her eyes for good measure, as if she can deny Kara anything.)_

_Lucy spends half the movie psyching herself up so she can tell Kara, who's happy chumming on her eight pizza slice, about her mission. Now or never._

_"I'm going away," she blurts, and immediately knows it was a poor choice of words when she sees Kara's sad eyes "On a mission, undercover, actually," she adds when the silence prolongs a beat longer. When she had practiced the conversation in her mind she always pictured Kara asking a million question, something resembling the Spanish Inquisition (where, why, why you?) not that she could give details but still, she had learned pretty early on that Kara doesn't take changes very well and making questions made her feel better._

_"Will you come back?" It's what she gets instead, the air rushes out from Lucy's body and her hand darts quickly to Kara's, her desire to assure her clouded by what experience  taught her about promises she doesn't know if she can keep (she learns that on her first tour overseas) she looks in Kara's eyes and that proves to be a mistake, because they are full of unshed tears and what seems an awful lot like betrayal (accusing eyes that say "you are leaving me too") but there's more sadness than hurt, they had grown closer, conversations over coffee, game nights where Lucy would stay behind and end up chatting with Kara until the wee hours of the morning, it had all evolved into movie nights of their own and keeping each other company while working and Kara developing the habit of visiting the DEO base in the desert (even if it's no longer mandatory for her to report in that base, the city one being much closer to her work and all)_

_"Sure as hell I'm going to try, you can't get rid of me that easy Supergirl," she chooses to say instead, it works because Kara, even though she still looks fairly sad, is smiling._

_"Oh that I could," she responds cheekily and Lucy, with an indignant huff, forcefully throws a pillow to Kara's face (she catches it mid air and wiggles her ears, Lucy steals her half eaten pizza piece and calls them even, Kara's not amused.)_

_..._

The grumbling of the alien besides her interrupts her train of thought. Today she's in transport duty, carrying two hostages to their buyer (Lucy shudders in disgust at the part she has to play in all of this heinous situation, tells herself she will get all of them in the end). She was riding shotgun, the driver was one of the few aliens in the cartel that could mimic a human form. They pulled over at a gas station to fill the tank and Lucy seized the opportunity to grab something to eat (some may look human but the diet they kept was anything but).

In her basket there's already three bags of chips, four cereal bars, five twizzlers and two water bottles (she laments the lack of healthy food choices but she can't complain that much) when something catches her eye. Right there on the rack lays a single Catco. magazine, she picks it up eagerly . She smiles looking at the cover thinking of James, Winn and Kara (and of course J'onn and Alex), the band of misfits that welcomed her with open arms and became her family, a much more loving one that the one she had left after the death of her mamá. She quickly hands the clerk a couple of bills and heads down to the truck, she could read the magazine later, the aliens she had to call her partners were not what one would call patient (or hygienic, but that was other story).

She rides in the back of the truck on the way back to the lair, just she and other two aliens that were there for security measures (the third one is currently riding shotgun). The ride back is short, just 40 minutes, so she decides that now is as good time as any to read Catco's mag.

She'd been skimming through it when her eyes landed on an article about an alien identification device (she tsked disapprovingly at the notion of an invention like that), she reads the opening paragraph and it has looking quickly at the bottom of the article because she knows that writing, sure enough right at the bottom Kara Danvers, reporter is shown. Lucy can't repress a loud shriek that earns her a nasty look from her associates, she rivals them with one of her own (somehow a mix between her father's and Cat Grant's) it has them looking away quickly. Happy with the results she gets back to reading Kara's article, by the end of it Lucy's trying to remember who was the head of the journalism department at Catco. because that's definitely NOT what Kara wanted to say. Regardless the article is brilliant, witty and on point (that's not surprise, Kara has a knack of excelling at what she does, be it regular stuff or Supergirl stuff). Pride fills Lucy's chest and she's thankful for all those night playing poker with Alex, because she doesn't think that otherwise she would have been able to hide the loving look she was directing to the piece of paper filled with Kara's words, with Kara's voice.

Back in the base she heads down to the barracks, after checking the other occupants of the room were truly asleep, she takes a notebook out of its hiding place and code writes the day's activities and places Kara's neatly folded article between its pages (the rest of the magazine lay discarded in a recycling bin). She hides it again and stares at the ceiling, her right hand reaching for her wrist in a movement that was now pure reflex, she touches her watch and opens it to reveal a gray circular button and she sighs, _has it really been three weeks?_ , she wonders if it would be entirely wrong to press the button in hopes of seeing her once again (what stops her isn't the fear of ruining her mission, but because she can't stand worrying Kara, the signal is for emergencies, she reminds herself) still, she falls asleep at the prospect.

_..._

                _Five thirty in the morning finds Lucy Lane already awake, checking the things she would need for her mission for the millionth time, the transport that would take her to the meeting point was scheduled to arrive at 7 am. A light tapping in her window distracts her from her task and she's already smiling when she opens the shades, there is only one person that would knock on her window instead of the door after all._

_She's greeted by Kara's smile as she opens the window. After taking in the outfit Kara is wearing, she chuckles._

_"Pajamas, Kara? and...are those bear slippers?," Kara pokes her in the side sporting a fake frown in her face._

_"Hey! I came in a hurry so don't tease me, meanie," she says and before Lucy has a chance to tease her back Kara is speaking again. "I've got something for you"_

_Lucy can tell she's excited, by the way she's vibrating in her spot and her voice goes up an octave. When she fully processes what Kara says she notices the way her arms are stuck firmly behind her back and curiosity fills her._

_"You didn't have to buy me anything, I AM coming back," she says with a slight shake of her head._

_"I didn't buy it, per se, I had Winn make it." there's a blur of movement and a black watch suddenly appears in her left wrist, it's elegant and pretty but Lucy's confused, she can't find a meaning behind this gift and Kara always gives pretty thoughtful gifts. The confusion she feels must show on her face. "It's not just a watch," she adds and with careful movements she opens it, behind it there's a button._

_"James has one that Kal gave him, that sparked the idea, I thought if you are in trouble I can *swoosh*," she makes a ridiculous hand movement to further her point, something that Lucy's pretty sure means "save the day". "You know?" Kara finishes and Lucy giggles._

_"Yes, I know, thank you, it means a lot," and that would be the understatement of the year, she's bewildered with the notion that someone cares about her enough to be worried for her, that had never happened before. Her heart starts to beat faster when she locks eyes with Kara and can see nothing but affection. "I'm going to miss you," she blurts out a second later and she can't stop it -doesn't really want to- and she's glad she didn't when Kara wraps her in a tight hug, as tight as the kryptonian dares, and Lucy hides her face in her neck as Kara returns the sentiment._

_When the hug ends and Kara goes home (with a pot of cereal in hand) Lucy feels something she had never felt before, homesick._

_..._

Eight hard, extremely trying weeks had passed since she set foot on the field and things were finally going according to her plan. An _incident_ with one of the crew members in which she broke his arm (she had found him going through her stuff), had earned her the respect of various well placed aliens, which translated in her getting included in more serious operations. Lucy was beyond herself with happiness, the more she introduced herself in the ring, more Intel could she get and she could go back home to her bed, to her friends, _to Kara._

What they don't usually tell you about undercover missions is that you get a lot of time to think, when you are not interested in making friends or small talk you find yourself with a lot of free time so, when she wasn't doing something relevant, Lucy dedicated her time to think, and to sort things. She hates liars and she had make that clear to all her friends but she had managed to ignore some important things for quite a while, things regarding a very joyful Kryptonian. If at the beginning of her mission Lucy found herself missing Kara the most, she writes it off as being used to spending so much time together, then she tells herself it's because Kara's her _best friend_ and of course she misses her, but she can't keep lying, not when Kara's article, safely hidden in her notebook, is now in the company of several more articles Kara had written, magazine cut outs, some featuring Supergirl doing Super Things, or articles that talked about her. At this point it's undeniable that Lucy has a crush, a big fat one, she just wonders where it started, regardless, it happened gradually enough for Lucy not to notice, but now that she knew....

_..._

Three months two weeks and four days it's what takes Lucy to get enough information for the DEO to dismantle the whole organization, she has to say, she's _very_ proud of her work. All her notes and the trustworthy position she held toward the end of the mission made it easier to capture the leader and the vast majority of his lieutenants.

She gets to cuff the thanagarian and does so with great joy, she strides down the desert DEO base (unlike its city counterpart, this one allows them to bring in prisoners in broad daylight), a few agents trailing behind her with two contained former lieutenants. Lucy discovers that, like in high school, news in the DEO flew fast, because she's just a couple steps in the main room when a round of applause erupts and leaves Lucy slightly embarrassed, some agents make their way to her.

"Director Lane, we will get it from here, Director Henshaw wants to speak with you," and just like that they are gone with the prisoner , Lucy scans the room and unsurprisingly finds J'onn in the monitor area, next to him is Alex,  who is grinning like a mad woman, Winn and Vasquez. _Apparently not fast enough_ is what she thinks when she notices with disappointment that Kara is not present, she walks to them and J'onn greets her with a strong handshake.

"Director Lane, it's good to have you back, you did a great job," behind the formality of her words, right there shining in his eyes, Lucy could see he was proud. She's sure that if they weren't in a work environment he would have hugged her, she thanks him inwardly, being on the spot it's not her forte.

Alex, of course, has not the same commiseration than her co director and pulls her in a tight hug, soon enough she lets her go and starts bouncing in a way that has Lucy questioning if she and Kara got a _Freaky Friday_ kind of situation going on. "You broke some kind of record, you know that, right?," Alex's smile is big, bigger than she had ever seen before "Three and a half months to dismantle an organization of that size?," she whistles "I knew you were a badass Lucy, I just didn't know how much," she has to admit the recognition feels nice but there's something eerie in seeing Alex this happy, luckily for her Vasquez pulls her out of her confusion

"We betted how long would it take for you to come back ma'am," she says "Alex was the closest one so she won," ah! now it all made sense

"You had made me an insanely rich woman, drinks are on me!" Alex says overjoyed, Lucy laughs at her friend's antics and is about to properly greet Winn who had been standing by when the earth shakes. "Kara, we have talked about this, you have to be more careful  and she's not listening to me,"  Lucy's rapid spin should have given her whiplash, but that doesn't matter to her when Kara is standing a few feet in front of her (and in a newly made crater) looking at her.

"Kara..," she sighs and she only gets to walk a couple of steps before the kryptonian launches herself toward Lucy, she embraces her and spins twice as Lucy wraps her arms around her neck, both of them laughing.

"I wonder who's going to win THAT be-," Winn's word turn into wheezing and both Kara and Lucy look over to see Winn rubbing his side where someone, Alex most likely, punched him.

They forget about him soon enough, Kara smiling wide with Lucy still in her arms "You came back," she says it in a way that has Lucy wondering if Kara really believed she would come back.

"I told you Supergirl, there's no getting rid of me," now that Lucy had Kara right in front of her the realization of her feelings came flooding back, tenderness, affection and hopefulness  filled her chest. It didn't go unnoticed the way J'onn had purposely looked away and coughed in his hand, damn his telepathic abilities and his power to ruin a moment, suddenly aware they were in the middle of the very crowed DEO main room, she cleared her throat and stepped away, Kara seemed to register it all at the same time and let her go with a light blush.

"Alex, I know you said drinks but I would really love just a movie and ice cream"

"Mulan?" Kara asks excitedly and Lucy can't help the matching smile that crept across her face. Oh she's going to ask Kara out, she knows it (she had analyzed _a lot_ of her past conversations to be fairly sure that Kara likes her too), but that she could do later, now all she wanted  was cuddle with her favorite kryptonian watching that movie 101st time.

"Mulan," she says with a nod. In the blink of an eye she finds herself being carried by Kara bridal style.

"Race you," Kara says to Alex who rolls her eyes, she looks at Lucy, silently asking if she's ok with flying, Lucy just points to the sky and prepares for takeoff. The pull on her gut had nothing to do with flying.

 

**Author's Note:**

> * Mamá =mom
> 
> I know nothing of DCU aliens, i just googled some stuff so you can totally call me out on things


End file.
